Flat Broke (4 page)

She had promise, this wee lass. Even if she did talk really
super
fast.

I saw her study the workstations—my desk, a cracked coffee table and a bedside stand with a huge scratch. Seating consisted of a dining room chair with a stain, and a wooden crate. Nothing matched, but I liked how the furniture filled up the storage closet, even though you had to climb over my desk to enter or leave the office.

“I like what you’ve done with your place,” she said. “It’s the sign of a guy who’s not afraid to take risks and doesn’t play by the rules.”

This girl had a good head on her shoulders. And if the longest journey begins with one small step, then my future empire would begin with one tiny worker.

“You’re hired. Any curfew restrictions we need to worry about with your folks?”

“No, as long as I’m with you and JonPaul and I’m home by nine, they’re okay.”

“How do you two know each other, anyway?”

Sam ducked her head, and JonPaul, I swear, blushed.

Oh.

“Wemet
at
the
allergist’s
office.”

“How long ago was that?”

“We’ve
been
going
together
fora
few
weeks.”

Uh-huh.

“Where’s the john?” JonPaul asked. Probably nervous because I’d just met his girlfriend. The girlfriend he hadn’t told me about.

“Do that on your own time, okay? Captains of industry don’t pee.”

“How do you know these things, Kev?”

“I do my research.”

“Do advisors pee?”

“Yes, but only after meetings. And you’re not an advisor. You and Sam are staff.”

“Oh,” Sam said sadly. “Just staff.”

JonPaul looked at her like she was the greatest idea since melted chocolate chips and bananas.

JonPaul. In love. With a chatty, smart munchkin. Color me surprised.

I hoped I wouldn’t have to draft a policy about employees not dating. Nah. Until it became an issue that affected productivity or got really uncomfortable, I’d turn a blind eye to the, uh, interoffice, um, romance.

Speaking of romance, if JonPaul could get a girlfriend before he even had this nifty job working for me, surely I could get Tina to be my girlfriend once I told her about the business and the employees and all the ideas I had for getting rich. I just had to figure out how to bring all this to her attention without looking like I was bragging—or boring. Some people, after all, aren’t business-minded. I didn’t think Tina was like that, though; she always seemed really smart to me.

I left JonPaul and Sam sitting together on the crate talking about allergy shots and organic fruit juices. Time to find Tina. The clock was ticking toward the dance. Get her to say yes before someone else asks her!